Ryker Dare
“So you’re really going along with this?” Clark stood in front of me with his arms crossed. Before the fight could begin, Alpha Hale had pulled Kei off to the side, and the two were whispering among themselves about Goddess knows what.
“Yes, Kei challenges my authority too much, and she needs to be taught a lesson.” Clark frowned at me.
“Is this you actually speaking or your wolf? We both know that you’re not usually this thickheaded unless Axel is involved,” he told me.
I growled low in warning. “Even so, I wouldn’t be bad mouthing at this time, Beta.”
Immediately, he bowed his head, knowing not to push me even further.
“Yes, Alpha.”
Nodding in satisfaction, I turned my gaze back to my mate who was staring at Alpha Hale with a bored expression. I took this moment to admire the beautiful young woman.
A few silvery strands of her hair that had escaped from her bun flowed along with the gentle breeze passing through. The skinny jeans she wore was plastered against her long, slender legs as if made like a second skin.
Just imagine her without any clothes. Axel practically purred.
I don’t think envisioning our mate naked is a good idea right now, I replied with annoyance.
—Why not? Just look at that figure. And those never-ending legs are just so—
—Enough!
“Hey, King! Are you ready to get your butt kicked?”
I didn’t give any indication that I was just talking to my wolf about imagining her with a lack of clothes. Instead, I quirked an eyebrow. “You know, if you wanted to get a piece of this, you could have asked,” I called over to her.
She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Puh-lease. We both know who the hotter one in this relationship is.” She grinned at me brightly. It was my turn to roll my eyes, but I didn’t say anything.
I began taking lazy strides towards her in the middle of the yard, the afternoon air crisp and clear while the sun was warming the earth.
I stopped a few yards away, spreading my feet in a defensive position.
We need to go easy on her, Axel said. I agreed and waited for Kei to get in a defensive position also, but she simply stood there with her hands loose at her sides. I didn’t say anything about it as I watched her eyes shut, and she inhaled deeply.
“King, I know I look like a weak little woman and it doesn’t help that I am your mate, but I am going to show you that I can handle myself. So please, try, at least, to get serious for just a little bit.”
Gasps were emitted around us as she opened her eyes again, the colors switching from red to green. However, what really made her eyes even more abnormal was the golden ring surrounding her irises. “You ready to play, King?”
“Always when it’s with you, Lune.”
She scoffed and cocked her head as I began circling her. “Get ready. I won’t go easy on you,” she said.
She didn’t even finish the sentence when she came charging at me. I didn’t falter however at her abrupt advance. I took one swift step back just as she reached me and gripped her arm, using her momentum to flip her over. The plan backfired when she landed on her feet and twirled, lifting her leg up and kicking me right in the stomach. If I were any normal wolf, it would have broken all of my ribs on impact, but being who I am, it would simply leave a bruise. We both jumped back and circled each other once again, her eyes still retaining that eerie golden ring.
“I will say your power is quite impressive.” Her eyes darted above me before coming back down.
“I’m glad you approve,” I said with a smirk and pushed off the balls of my feet into a sprint, my form only a slight blur. I suddenly appeared behind her and wrapped an arm around her neck. She didn’t move, not even tense at my sudden appearance.
“Just give in,” I muttered into her ear.
She didn’t say anything but only laughed.
“Oh, my dear king, your naivety is almost breathtaking.”
My arm involuntarily tightened even more. “What—” I couldn’t even speak the next word before I flew and hit a tree with a crack. Surprise filled the air around us, and not even Axel could utter a word. I coughed and felt the pain in my back pulsate dully. I stood up and brushed the dirt from my pants.
“That was one hell of a throw,” I finally said, watching Kei stand in front of me with a teasing smile.
“Thanks. I’ve had plenty of practice.” She gripped her right shoulder and wound up her arm.
“What, tossing fully grown men into trees?” I asked quizzically.
“You’d be surprised.” She suddenly became somber. Shaking her head slightly, she took one more step in my direction. “Fighting is a part of my life that I can’t let go.”
Her words caught me by surprise, and I stood still, studying her stoic face.
She’s been through things that we can’t imagine, it seems, Axel said a little sadly.
It seems that way, doesn’t it? I murmured back to him.
“Fine then. I’ll get serious just for you,” I said to her, and just as I finished off the sentence, power crackled around me like furious whips. People around took several steps back while Alpha Hale and my men stood still in their spots.
“Ooh, you’re so hot when you’re serious.” She sent me a wink before materializing out of sight.
I immediately stiffened and let my senses take over. Instantly, I felt her presence behind me. As I whipped around, I found that we were now face-to-face. Before I could make the first move, her hand darted out and gripped the collar of my shirt, pulling my head down so she could speak into my ear. Instantly, her scent filled my nostrils, and I had to concentrate my attention on her words.
“Guess I’ll get serious as well. I’ll apologize in advance for your loss. Don’t worry. I’ll be there to comfort you,” she commented to me cockily.
I felt her wet tongue dart out to lick the edge of my earlobe, and instantly, pleasure filled my limbs like a heavy drug. She giggled and pulled away, sending my wolf and me into a frenzy.
“Goddess, Kei,” I said through clenched teeth, trying to rein in Axel. “Why are you such a tease?”
She wiggled her eyebrows and pranced back. “It’s just so fun, King. Why wouldn’t I want to do it?”
I clenched my fists and knew that Axel was going to break through any moment. “Kei, do you really want to meet Axel so bad?”
Her lips tilted in a smirk, and the golden ring suddenly bled through her eyes, making the whole iris glow golden.
“Oh yes. Yes, she does, my king.” She purred at me, and I knew Kei was no longer with us but her wolf instead. “And Goddess, dark chocolate just became my favorite food.” She grinned and took off into an abrupt sprint towards me, her hair glinting in the early light.
Cursing, I put one foot back to embrace the impact. I was taken by surprise as her slight frame rammed into me, feeling as if I was rammed by a bull. I let out a quiet grunt and gripped her arms, using her momentum and my body weight to roll onto my back and kicking her over my head. She laughed as she simply landed on her hands and pushed off the ground, landing with fluid grace back onto her feet.
Why is it so hard to get her down?
She’s our mate after all. She’s going to be strong just like us. Axel sounded humorous as I got back onto my feet and made a move to restrain her. She simply slipped away out of my reach.
“King, you’re going to have to try harder than that if you want to defeat me and put me in my place.” She winked and laughed as I growled at her.
“You are having too much fun with this,” I muttered, “prancing around while I’m being serious.”
She raised an eyebrow at that. “This is you being serious? I highly doubt that, King. Even now, I can see you restricting your powers, and at this rate, I’ll be the winner if you don’t step it up.”
“You sound so sure,” I said to her.
She shrugged and smiled slightly. “You’re not the first to underestimate me, King. Now, let’s get this show on the road. I think we’ve done enough talking.”
Shaking my head, I got ready. “I couldn’t have said it any better,” I said.
Smirking, she faced me and took one step, appearing in thin air right in front of me. This time, though, I was ready. I dodged her right hook and maneuvered myself behind her, kicking at the back of her legs. She bent onto one knee, giving me precious moments to grip her arm and twist it behind her back, pushing her front into the ground.
“That was easy. From all of your talk, I thought that you would put up much more of a fight.” She giggled underneath me before, suddenly, the world blurred, and I was on my back, blinking up at the clear blue sky.
—Goddess, she’s hot.
—Can you for one moment stop thinking about how attractive Kei is and focus on beating her in this fight? I said in annoyance.
—Ha! You should know me better than yourself, and yet you ask me that question? I am disappointed with you, Ryker.
—I knew it was futile, yet I wanted to give it a shot, anyway.” Jumping to my feet, I rolled my shoulders to ease the tense muscles.
“This is going on longer than I had anticipated,” I said to Kei.
“You’re right. I guess it’s about time I ended this, don’t you think?” She grinned mischievously, and before I could open my mouth to retort, she had taken two strides to close the distance between us with her fist pulled back, letting it swing before I could react.
“Have a nice nap, King.” The last thing I felt was her fist connecting with my jaw, a surge of energy so great it made my vision go black, and my consciousness left me like a fleeting thought.